Sunday, November 6, 2022
Ledecky Takes World Record, Nelson Wins Series Title at 2022 FINA World Cup Finale
Pictured: Beata Nelson
What started in Berlin, continued in Toronto and culminated in Indianapolis, was nothing short of amazing. Three weeks of international travel, time-zone changes and world-class competition did not deter the Americans. They simply dominated the 2022 FINA World Cup from the start and never let up, breaking records along the way and seeing U.S. National Team member Beata Nelson claim the competition's 2022 title of Top Female Point Scorer.
It was another world record for the ever-impressive Katie Ledecky in the women’s 800-meter freestyle (SCM). She crushed the record by almost two seconds, touching in 7:57.42 She easily lead the field, packed with fellow Americans Jillian Cox, Leah Smith, Katie Grimes, Claire Weinstein. Smith won bronze with a 8:12.01.
“I think after last week, being eight minutes, I was really happy with the mile,” said Ledecky. “Then I had a moment where I wished I got the 800 then. I had a whole week where I was thinking about this opportunity and kind of putting some pressure on myself. I wanted to deliver in front of the home fans and finish the meet off on a good note. I could hear the crowd halfway through, I knew I was probably on pace. It’s always nice when you can hear a little bit and it spurs you on for sure.”
This is Ledecky’s second world record of this World Cup, with breaking it in the 1500m freestyle at last weekend's stop in Toronto. World-record performances result in a $10,000 bonus from FINA.
Leah Smith joined Ledecky on the podium in the 800, finishing third.
“We don’t get to race short course meters a lot, so this was amazing that we had a World Cup on U.S. soil, so I feel really excited for short course worlds,” said Smith. “I wouldn’t say any of my performances were my best ever; I’m grinding right now, trying to put in the work this fall so I can have a good base the rest of my season. This was the first meet of the season. I’m excited about Short Course Worlds and focusing on my shorter-term goals right now. I’m excited to be here and get back to racing again.”
In the women’s 100m butterfly, Indiana-native Alex Shackell won bronze in front of the home crowd with a 56.63.
"I hit most of my turns so that was nice,” said Shacell. “I was really working on my breakout, and I just wanted to have the best race possible. I knew it was going to be close. I knew Beryl was definitely going to drop from this morning. I’ll take that one.”
Americans Nelson, Katie Grimes, Jojo Ramey and Bella Sims filled the finals of the women’s 200m backstroke. Nelson was going for her third win in this event to earn Triple Crown Award, and was flirting with the World Record the entire way. She easily won in 2:00.43, just off the record mark, but earning the crown and prize money. Sims and Grimes cleaned up the podium sweep with silver (2:01:64) and bronze (2:02.34), respectively.
“I had no expectations coming into this,” said Nelson. “Saw it as a great short-course meters opportunity for me – and obviously that’s in my wheelhouse – and wanted to take full advantage. I’m really happy with the results.”
“I like backstroke, personally, because it gives me time to catch my breath from my underwaters,” said Sims. “And short-course yards is a little bit different because I can’t do that as much, but I’ve realized I’m pretty good at backstroke, even though I really haven’t had a chance to show it off. This was a good meet to do it.”
Grimes was pleased as well, saying, “It was good, I was just super tired after my 800. I was a little stressed out but some of the girls were super supportive and they got me excited for the race. I gave it my best effort. Short course meters was a good experience.”
Shane Casas answered this excitement in the men’s 100m backstroke, also leading the field of five Americans, including Coleman Stewart, Ryan Murphy, Gabriel Fantoni and Brett Pinfold. Casas won the tight race in 49.40, and Murphy nabbed bronze in 49.67. This was Casas’ third win in the event, also earning him another Triple Crown Award with a crown and $10,000 bonus check.
“That race was a surprise to me, I actually thought I was about a second faster. I mean, just to win is really good. Sometimes it just doesn’t happen the way you want it to happen,” said Casas.
Murphy was happy with his result, saying, “The improvements day-to-day were pretty dramatic for me. That’s a great sign. I got into a really nice training rhythm about two weeks ago. I think there’s always a lag between when it shows up in practice and when it shows up in meets; I'm excited for that to kick in a little bit more. We’ll keep working on the capacity this fall, take a rest before Short Course Worlds and see how it goes.”
Lilly King took second in the women’s 50m breaststroke sprint in 29.16, saying, “I wanted the win. I’ve only been in for about 12 weeks so that’s the result I got. Hopefully, it’ll be better at Short Course Worlds.”
Nic Fink had a crown on the line in the men’s 200m breaststroke. U.S. teammates Brandon Fischer, Reece Whitley and Will Licon also kept Fink company. Swimming in lane 8, after barely making it back to finals, Fink won with a 2:02.70, earning his crown, which is given (along with a $10,000 check) to athletes who win the same event across all three World Cup stops. It was USA across the board as Whitley, Fischer and Licon followed it up second through fourth, respectively.
“My strategy is usually to race the field, hold on and then bring it home in the last 50,” said Fink. “In the outside, you have the unique opportunity to swim your own race and let the heat race you. That was the plan tonight and that’s what I did.”
Whitley on his race: “It’s pretty easy to get motivated. I’m really lucky to have earned this opportunity. To have done well and made it through the three weeks, I’m grateful.”
Fischer said he had no expectations going into this as his first short course meters international competition. “I had some time off so I said ‘why not?’ I have a lot of meets coming up. I’m trying to go to as many TYR Pro Series stops as possible. I’ll go to the (Toyota) U.S. Open to try to get my trial cuts. I have the whole year lined up and I have plans,” said Fischer.
The women’s 100m freestyle Abbey Wietzeil, Natalie Hinds and Erin Gemmell battled it out in the sprint. Wietzeil secured a bronze with a 51.63.
"My goal was to race as best I could and drop from this morning,” said Wietzeil. “Getting a lot of data and information from this meet, putting a suit back on and getting up and racing, this is a good meet to do that. It’s a lot of fun to race the best in the world at a different time of year.”
The men’s 200m freestyle showcased Drew Kibler, Kieran Smith, Trenton Julian and Jake Magahey. Smith led the race that was tightly contested on the last 25, and finished in 1:41.78 for the win. Kilber snuck in for third with a 1:41.93.
"The last 25, I was suffering,” said Smith. “That was my game plan tonight – take it out really hard. That’s been my race strategy, that puts together my best times. Capping it off 3-for-3 is really special.”
Kibler had fun with his race, saying, “I think the biggest thing I’ve learned is that racing takes a certain type of intensity that you have to practice. Last week was really tough in Toronto after not racing since Worlds. It’s fun to get back into it. This is my favorite pool to race in. Super fun atmosphere and racing with some good guys.”
The final event of the evening was the women’s 200m IM. Sims, Nelson, Leah Hayes and Izzy Ivey. Ivey touched first after the butterfly, Sims took over after the backstroke, Nelson took the lead for breaststroke, and kept it for the final 50 freestyle, winning in 2:04.92 for her second gold of the evening and second Triple Crown. Sims finished fourth (2:06.90), Hayes was fifth (2:08.10) and Ivey was eighth (2:09.41).
“Especially after that loss (yesterday) in the 100 backstroke, I wanted to give myself the best opportunity to rack up some points and take advantage of this opportunity so it was a no brainer for me,” said Nelson. “Had to get through the morning – had some good swims this morning – and felt good about where I was going to be tonight. It’s a great way to finish this off. I’m not usually a ‘slap the water’ kind of lady, but man, it’s been a long three weeks so really happy with the finish for sure.”
Coming into tonight’s finals, Nelson was leading the World Cup women’s rankings and Fink was leading the men, with Casas in fourth. After this evenings finals, Nelson was crowned the overall female winner for the entire series, while Trinidad & Tobago's Dylan Carter was named the male winner.
The 2022 FINA World Cup competition series welcomed more than 1,000 of the world’s best swimmers across the tour from more than 60 countries, competing for $224,000 prize money ($112,000 per gender) awarded at each city to the top 20 male and female athletes. A series total of $262,000 was also awarded to the top-eight men and women athletes, based on their overall ranking. In addition to world record bonus prize money of $10,000, athletes who won the same event in all three cities of the series won a “Crown” and received additional prize money of $10,000 for each Crown.
Additional information and results can be found at https://www.fina.org/competitions/2958/fina-swimming-world-cup-2022.
What started in Berlin, continued in Toronto and culminated in Indianapolis, was nothing short of amazing. Three weeks of international travel, time-zone changes and world-class competition did not deter the Americans. They simply dominated the 2022 FINA World Cup from the start and never let up, breaking records along the way and seeing U.S. National Team member Beata Nelson claim the competition's 2022 title of Top Female Point Scorer.
It was another world record for the ever-impressive Katie Ledecky in the women’s 800-meter freestyle (SCM). She crushed the record by almost two seconds, touching in 7:57.42 She easily lead the field, packed with fellow Americans Jillian Cox, Leah Smith, Katie Grimes, Claire Weinstein. Smith won bronze with a 8:12.01.
“I think after last week, being eight minutes, I was really happy with the mile,” said Ledecky. “Then I had a moment where I wished I got the 800 then. I had a whole week where I was thinking about this opportunity and kind of putting some pressure on myself. I wanted to deliver in front of the home fans and finish the meet off on a good note. I could hear the crowd halfway through, I knew I was probably on pace. It’s always nice when you can hear a little bit and it spurs you on for sure.”
This is Ledecky’s second world record of this World Cup, with breaking it in the 1500m freestyle at last weekend's stop in Toronto. World-record performances result in a $10,000 bonus from FINA.
Leah Smith joined Ledecky on the podium in the 800, finishing third.
“We don’t get to race short course meters a lot, so this was amazing that we had a World Cup on U.S. soil, so I feel really excited for short course worlds,” said Smith. “I wouldn’t say any of my performances were my best ever; I’m grinding right now, trying to put in the work this fall so I can have a good base the rest of my season. This was the first meet of the season. I’m excited about Short Course Worlds and focusing on my shorter-term goals right now. I’m excited to be here and get back to racing again.”
In the women’s 100m butterfly, Indiana-native Alex Shackell won bronze in front of the home crowd with a 56.63.
"I hit most of my turns so that was nice,” said Shacell. “I was really working on my breakout, and I just wanted to have the best race possible. I knew it was going to be close. I knew Beryl was definitely going to drop from this morning. I’ll take that one.”
Americans Nelson, Katie Grimes, Jojo Ramey and Bella Sims filled the finals of the women’s 200m backstroke. Nelson was going for her third win in this event to earn Triple Crown Award, and was flirting with the World Record the entire way. She easily won in 2:00.43, just off the record mark, but earning the crown and prize money. Sims and Grimes cleaned up the podium sweep with silver (2:01:64) and bronze (2:02.34), respectively.
“I had no expectations coming into this,” said Nelson. “Saw it as a great short-course meters opportunity for me – and obviously that’s in my wheelhouse – and wanted to take full advantage. I’m really happy with the results.”
“I like backstroke, personally, because it gives me time to catch my breath from my underwaters,” said Sims. “And short-course yards is a little bit different because I can’t do that as much, but I’ve realized I’m pretty good at backstroke, even though I really haven’t had a chance to show it off. This was a good meet to do it.”
Grimes was pleased as well, saying, “It was good, I was just super tired after my 800. I was a little stressed out but some of the girls were super supportive and they got me excited for the race. I gave it my best effort. Short course meters was a good experience.”
Shane Casas answered this excitement in the men’s 100m backstroke, also leading the field of five Americans, including Coleman Stewart, Ryan Murphy, Gabriel Fantoni and Brett Pinfold. Casas won the tight race in 49.40, and Murphy nabbed bronze in 49.67. This was Casas’ third win in the event, also earning him another Triple Crown Award with a crown and $10,000 bonus check.
“That race was a surprise to me, I actually thought I was about a second faster. I mean, just to win is really good. Sometimes it just doesn’t happen the way you want it to happen,” said Casas.
Murphy was happy with his result, saying, “The improvements day-to-day were pretty dramatic for me. That’s a great sign. I got into a really nice training rhythm about two weeks ago. I think there’s always a lag between when it shows up in practice and when it shows up in meets; I'm excited for that to kick in a little bit more. We’ll keep working on the capacity this fall, take a rest before Short Course Worlds and see how it goes.”
Lilly King took second in the women’s 50m breaststroke sprint in 29.16, saying, “I wanted the win. I’ve only been in for about 12 weeks so that’s the result I got. Hopefully, it’ll be better at Short Course Worlds.”
Nic Fink had a crown on the line in the men’s 200m breaststroke. U.S. teammates Brandon Fischer, Reece Whitley and Will Licon also kept Fink company. Swimming in lane 8, after barely making it back to finals, Fink won with a 2:02.70, earning his crown, which is given (along with a $10,000 check) to athletes who win the same event across all three World Cup stops. It was USA across the board as Whitley, Fischer and Licon followed it up second through fourth, respectively.
“My strategy is usually to race the field, hold on and then bring it home in the last 50,” said Fink. “In the outside, you have the unique opportunity to swim your own race and let the heat race you. That was the plan tonight and that’s what I did.”
Whitley on his race: “It’s pretty easy to get motivated. I’m really lucky to have earned this opportunity. To have done well and made it through the three weeks, I’m grateful.”
Fischer said he had no expectations going into this as his first short course meters international competition. “I had some time off so I said ‘why not?’ I have a lot of meets coming up. I’m trying to go to as many TYR Pro Series stops as possible. I’ll go to the (Toyota) U.S. Open to try to get my trial cuts. I have the whole year lined up and I have plans,” said Fischer.
The women’s 100m freestyle Abbey Wietzeil, Natalie Hinds and Erin Gemmell battled it out in the sprint. Wietzeil secured a bronze with a 51.63.
"My goal was to race as best I could and drop from this morning,” said Wietzeil. “Getting a lot of data and information from this meet, putting a suit back on and getting up and racing, this is a good meet to do that. It’s a lot of fun to race the best in the world at a different time of year.”
The men’s 200m freestyle showcased Drew Kibler, Kieran Smith, Trenton Julian and Jake Magahey. Smith led the race that was tightly contested on the last 25, and finished in 1:41.78 for the win. Kilber snuck in for third with a 1:41.93.
"The last 25, I was suffering,” said Smith. “That was my game plan tonight – take it out really hard. That’s been my race strategy, that puts together my best times. Capping it off 3-for-3 is really special.”
Kibler had fun with his race, saying, “I think the biggest thing I’ve learned is that racing takes a certain type of intensity that you have to practice. Last week was really tough in Toronto after not racing since Worlds. It’s fun to get back into it. This is my favorite pool to race in. Super fun atmosphere and racing with some good guys.”
The final event of the evening was the women’s 200m IM. Sims, Nelson, Leah Hayes and Izzy Ivey. Ivey touched first after the butterfly, Sims took over after the backstroke, Nelson took the lead for breaststroke, and kept it for the final 50 freestyle, winning in 2:04.92 for her second gold of the evening and second Triple Crown. Sims finished fourth (2:06.90), Hayes was fifth (2:08.10) and Ivey was eighth (2:09.41).
“Especially after that loss (yesterday) in the 100 backstroke, I wanted to give myself the best opportunity to rack up some points and take advantage of this opportunity so it was a no brainer for me,” said Nelson. “Had to get through the morning – had some good swims this morning – and felt good about where I was going to be tonight. It’s a great way to finish this off. I’m not usually a ‘slap the water’ kind of lady, but man, it’s been a long three weeks so really happy with the finish for sure.”
Coming into tonight’s finals, Nelson was leading the World Cup women’s rankings and Fink was leading the men, with Casas in fourth. After this evenings finals, Nelson was crowned the overall female winner for the entire series, while Trinidad & Tobago's Dylan Carter was named the male winner.
The 2022 FINA World Cup competition series welcomed more than 1,000 of the world’s best swimmers across the tour from more than 60 countries, competing for $224,000 prize money ($112,000 per gender) awarded at each city to the top 20 male and female athletes. A series total of $262,000 was also awarded to the top-eight men and women athletes, based on their overall ranking. In addition to world record bonus prize money of $10,000, athletes who won the same event in all three cities of the series won a “Crown” and received additional prize money of $10,000 for each Crown.
Additional information and results can be found at https://www.fina.org/competitions/2958/fina-swimming-world-cup-2022.